If you are running a WooCommere store, you need a reliable payment gateway for transactions.
And PayPal is the most popular, easy-to-use and trusted payment method by millions of WooCommerce stores.
But integrating PayPal has now become more tedious due to updates. So here we’ll see how to connect the WooCommerce PayPal Payments plugin to your store.
We’ll also see how to manage multiple PayPal and WooCommerce accounts to gain business insights and analytics.
Why use PayPal Payments for WooCommerce?
Earlier, when you install WooCommerce, you also get the PayPal Standard extension. But with WooCommerce version 5.5.0, PayPal Standard is hidden for new installations.
WooCommerce recommends using the PayPal Payments extension which is their full-stack solution.
If you are using an existing PayPal product, here are the details to upgrade.
Features of using PayPal Payments:
- All-in-one checkout solution – you can offer PayPal, Venmo (US only), Pay Later options, advanced credit and debit card processing, and local payment methods.
- With smart payment buttons, you can offer your customers relevant payment options that are specific to their respective markets.
- Compatible with WooCommerce Subscriptions.
- Advanced Card Payments with fully customizable card fields.
- Supports 100+ currencies
- It’s free
Requirements to set up PayPal for WooCommerce
- WordPress Version 5.3 or above
- WooCommerce Version 3.9 or above
- PHP Version 7.2 or newer
- PayPal business or personal account
- WooCommerce PayPal Payments plugin (mentioned above)
- PayPal Identity Token
How to Add PayPal to WooCommerce?
We assume that you have installed the required versions of WooCommerce, WordPress and PHP.
We’ll see how to create a PayPal business account, add the PayPal Payments plugin, and create the PayPal Identity Token.
To get started with PayPal for WooCommerce, the first step is to create an account with PayPal, followed by the remaining steps.
Creating a PayPal account
PayPal is an all-inclusive checkout solution trusted globally. Although the process is generally smooth and self-explanatory, it may differ from one country to another. Your business and personal legal information is essential for PayPal. Below are the steps that simplify the process for you.
- Go to the PayPal website and click Sign Up
- Select
Business Accountand click Next. - Enter your email address and create a password.
- Enter details about your business, click Agree, and then Create Account.
- Select the appropriate
Business Type. - Fill in product/service keywords and monthly sales.
- Fill in the employer ID number and company website and click Continue.
- Add personal details for verification (USA users: last 4 digits of social security number, DOB, home address).
- Select the type of product and selling method, single transaction or subscription.
- Select a prebuilt solution that doesn’t require coding.
- Click Next to continue.
- If you check your email account, you’ll get an email reminder to verify your email address. Go ahead and verify it.
- Once you’ve verified your site, you can also link to your bank account or just continue to use your PayPal account to receive and make payments.
Setting up PayPal on your WooCommerce store
Now, we’ll walk you through the installation and setup of the WooCommerce PayPal Payments plugin.
Navigate to your WordPress Admin panel > Plugins > Add New and search for “WooCommerce PayPal Payments”.
Once you find the plugin, install and activate it, and follow these steps:
- Go to your
WordPress Admin panel > WooCommerce > Settings. - Click on the Set Up button next to the
Enabled PayPaloption located on the Payments tab. - Now configure the Standard settings:
- Enable/disable – check the box to enable PayPal as your payment gateway
- Title – enter the checkout page heading
- Description – add a payment description or a message for your customers.
- PayPal email – input your PayPal email used for payment collection.
- Then, set up the Advanced options section as follows:
- PayPal sandbox – leave the PayPal sandbox unchecked as it requires a developer account.
- Debug log – enable the Debug log box to log all PayPal events.
- IPN email notifications – tick the box to receive a refund, chargeback, and cancellation notifications.
- Receiver email – add the email address to receive the notifications.
- PayPal identity token – enter the identity token from PayPal (steps mentioned in the next section).
- Invoice prefix – if you link your PayPal account to several stores, add a mix of alphanumeric characters to distinguish your invoices.
- Shipping details – check this box to enable PayPal to generate shipping labels instead of billing customers.
- Address override – leave the checkbox unchecked to prevent customers from modifying their address.
- Payment action – choose Capture to process the payments immediately or Authorize to approve them manually.
- Page style – input the name of the PayPal page style you want to use for the checkout page.
- Image URL – utilize this option to showcase a 150x50px image in the upper left corner of the checkout page.
Also, configure the PayPal API credentials to permit refunds on your store via PayPal by following these steps:
- Go to
Account Settings > Account accesson the PayPal dashboard. - Click the Update link next to the API access option.
- Find the
NVP/SOAP API integration (Classic)section, and then click Manage API credentials. - Select the
Request API signatureoption on the Request API Credentials page. - Click Agree and Submit, and your API credentials will be displayed on the following page.
Steps to get PayPal Identity Token
A PayPal identity token is a distinct code or security feature that authenticates a user’s PayPal account with WooCommerce, providing secure communication between the two and validating the authenticity of PayPal payments.
- Log in to your PayPal account.
- Go to
Account Settings > Website payments. - Under
Website preferences, click on the Update link. - Select On under
Auto return for website payments. - Insert your store Thank You Page link to the Return URL field.
- Next, under
Payment data transfer, select On. - You should see your Identity Token listed at the bottom.
- Copy the Identity Token to your clipboard.
- Now, go to your WordPress Admin panel > WooCommerce > Settings > Payments.
- Click on the PayPal payment gateway.
- Paste the Identity Token into the PayPal identity token field.
- Click the Save changes button.
Great job! Your WooCommerce store is now capable of securely communicating with PayPal and handling payments through the PayPal payment gateway.
Better and accurate analytics for WooCommerce and PayPal at one place
Every WooCommerce store requires analytics to monitor and expand their business, as basic KPIs can only be obtained by relying on WooCommerce or PayPal alone.
Moreover, if you have multiple WooCommerce stores or PayPal accounts, you will have to log in to each account to view reports, which do not give you the entire business performance.
However, with Putler, you can monitor all of your multiple WooCommerce stores and Putler accounts from a single location. Putler will automatically collect the data, merge it, and provide you with consolidated reports from all your stores in a single location.
- Switch between WooCommerce shops and PayPal accounts to view individual reports from each and also access combined reports for all your stores.
- Access over 150 KPIs and real-time metrics that truly indicate how your businesses are performing.
- Obtain comprehensive reports on all aspects, including products, customers, sales, transactions, subscriptions, and website audience.
- Connect unlimited stores/accounts for multiple platforms as well – Shopify, Stripe, BigCommerce, Google Analytics to stay on top of your business numbers with Putler.
- Effortlessly manage refunds, subscriptions, and balance tracking from one place.
Conclusion
I hope this blog clarifies how to enable PayPal for your WooCommerce store.
And if you desire to expand your WooCommerce business with precise and up-to-date analytics, Putler can aid you in steering your business in the right direction.